Apple Computer on Wednesday said it would close its only factory in the Silicon Valley area and lay off 345 employees as part of a worldwide reorganization of its manufacturing and distribution operations. The unexpected shuttering of the facility in Fremont, Calif.--which Apple had touted just two years ago as a showpiece of automated production--is the latest setback for recession-ravaged Silicon Valley.

Sun Microsystems Inc. will fire 9% of its employees as demand for big computers, already slumping from the Internet and telecommunications collapses, slowed dramatically after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. These are the first significant layoffs at the Silicon Valley powerhouse and mark the end of an amazing growth spurt for the maker of workstations and high-end servers that run computer networks used by many dot-com firms and big corporations.

Apple Computer and International Business Machines may be discussing a technology swap or other business deal to bolster their respective operations amid increasing competition, analysts said Friday. However, spokesmen for both firms declined to confirm or deny a published report that a deal involving IBM's workstation microprocessor and Apple's operating system software is under discussion.

Gateway Inc. said Tuesday that it will pull out of Asia and probably Europe, slashing as many as 5,000 jobs, or 25% of its workers, in a drastic bid to emerge from the computer-industry slump as a leaner and more profitable company. The nation's fourth-largest computer maker will redouble its efforts to sell services, software and Internet access along with the profit-challenged PCs in its trademark cow-patterned boxes.

Western Digital Corp., continuing a reorganization begun 11 months ago, said Tuesday that it will shut an electronics plant in Irvine and lay off 110 employees. The plant, which will be closed Aug. 30, had been making electronic circuit boards for International Business Machines Corp.'s laptop computer. IBM will now produce the boards at its own plants, a change the companies had previously announced, said Robert Blair, a Western Digital spokesman.

International Business Machines Corp. on Tuesday announced a $600-million consolidation plan that it said will probably lead to the resignation or retirement of 3,000 to 4,000 employees. The world's biggest computer company said it would preserve its no-layoff tradition in the streamlining effort, which is intended to "further reduce costs, provide for future growth and speed new products to customers."

Texas Instruments released two pieces of bad news Thursday, announcing that it will cut 3,200 jobs and will take Fujitsu Ltd. to court after failing to reach a patent agreement. The big chip maker, which has struggled for several years in the face of intense competition in its core business, said the cuts in its 68,800-strong work force will take place through a combination of early retirement and layoffs. TI also announced a second-quarter loss of $157 million on revenue of $1.

100 Face Layoff in Aldus Restructuring: Computer software maker Aldus Corp., plagued by falling revenue, is restructuring its U.S. operations and laying off 11% of its staff, about 100 employees. The restructuring follows "economic and competitive pressures that continue to have a negative impact on our business," said President Paul Brainerd. The company posted a second-quarter loss of $900,000, or 6 cents a share, on revenue of $38.9 million.

Wang Laboratories Inc., a once-mighty computer company founded as one man's dream 41 years ago, tumbled into bankruptcy court Tuesday after failing to keep pace with a rapidly changing market. The move will mean more job losses for the struggling New England economy, and also served as a reminder that no computer company is safe from financial distress, observers said.

Unisys Corp., the giant computer maker that has been trimming costs to offset sagging profits, said Wednesday that it is laying off about 2,100 employees worldwide this week. The company, the nation's third-largest computer maker, also said that an additional 400 engineering workers at corporate headquarters in Blue Bell, Pa., would lose their jobs at the end of the summer.

Major chip companies, including Japan's Toshiba Corp., are preparing to slash tens of thousands of jobs worldwide, anticipating that deepening price cuts and faster products won't be enough to stimulate demand in the near future. Toshiba, the second-largest semiconductor maker after Intel Corp., said Monday that it will eliminate 17,000 jobs in Japan and 1,800 elsewhere in the next three years, reducing its work force by about 10%. Hitachi Ltd.

Software maker Candle Corp. laid off about 200 workers, or about 10% of its 2,000-person staff, blaming the economic downturn. The cuts were spread throughout Candle's 50 offices worldwide, said Barry Sulpor, a spokesman for the El Segundo-based company. He declined to specify how many of the company's 500 employees in California might be affected. Candle, a 25-year-old private company, designs software to help businesses manage their e-commerce. The company has 5,000 clients in 59 countries.

A host of beleaguered technology companies announced a staggering 31,000 worldwide job cuts Thursday, marking one of the worst days for layoffs since the tech bubble burst a year ago. Thursday's moves from a variety of tech titans, which already are slogging through the worst year in the industry's history, caused analysts to wonder whether the carnage would get even worse and when it would come to an end.

Dashing hopes that the worst is over for the beleaguered telecommunications equipment sector, Nortel Networks Corp. said Friday that it will slash an additional 10,000 jobs and post a second-quarter loss of $19.2 billion, one of the biggest in corporate history. The job cuts follow the 20,000 announced earlier this year at the world's largest maker of phone equipment. All told, Nortel plans to shed close to one-third of its work force in a drastic attempt to make up for plunging sales.

Ingram Micro Inc., the world's largest distributor of computer products, said Wednesday that it will cut 1,000 U.S. jobs, or about 6% of its work force, because of weak demand for computers and networking equipment. The company said it expects to save $30 million to $40 million a year as a result of the cuts, closing three facilities that will reduce its presence significantly in California. Ingram Micro already has eliminated 1,000 U.S. jobs since the beginning of the year.

Dell Computer Corp. may soon fire thousands more people, after cutting 1,700 jobs in February, as the biggest U.S. personal computer maker tries to reduce expenses to make up for steep PC price cuts, analysts said. The company may fire about 3,000 people, or about 8% of its work force, said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Dell spokesman Michael Maher declined to comment.

Major chip companies, including Japan's Toshiba Corp., are preparing to slash tens of thousands of jobs worldwide, anticipating that deepening price cuts and faster products won't be enough to stimulate demand in the near future. Toshiba, the second-largest semiconductor maker after Intel Corp., said Monday that it will eliminate 17,000 jobs in Japan and 1,800 elsewhere in the next three years, reducing its work force by about 10%. Hitachi Ltd.

Amid growing signs that the Asian economic crisis is cooling off America's long-running business boom, job cutting is making a big comeback, particularly at semiconductor companies and other high-tech concerns. In Orange County, once-hearty computer businesses have slumped drastically in the face of industrywide price wars and falling demand. Motorola Inc.

Egghead.com Inc. said it is firing 178 people, or 29% of the company's work force, to cut costs as the Internet seller of computers and technology products seeks to turn a profit by its fourth quarter. The company is firing 21 full-time, temporary and contract workers at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters and 157 in Vancouver, Wash., spokeswoman Joanne Sperans Hartzell said. * NEC Corp.

Compaq Computer Corp., the world's biggest personal computer maker, warned that its first-quarter earnings will fall short of expectations because of a price war and a softening U.S. economy, and said it will cut about 5,000 jobs, or 7% of its work force. Compaq Chief Executive Michael Capellas said shaky consumer confidence had spread to the corporations that are his biggest customers. He said the retrenchment will prepare the company for continuing U.S.